Back to school 2: What's new in High Schools and Colleges

Mesivta Ateres Yaakov

Mesivta Ateres Yaakov will continue the learning support program it introduced last year; several young rabbeim are available to help students learn.

“In addition to the obvious educational benefits, these talmidei chachomim acted as superb role models for our impressionable young men,” explained the Menahel, Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe.

Four AP courses will be offered and two of the Mesivta’s instructors will be department coordinators in the areas of Language Arts and Mathematics. The Mesivta will resume its weekly publication of student-written Divrei Torah that is distributed in Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn. Chesed projects with Ohel-Beis Ezra and Chayeinu will resume ,as will sports and academic programs, including softball, volleyball, mock trial and Torah Bowl.

n n n

The Davis Renov Stahler High School for Boys

DRS is welcoming its largest ever freshman class — 90 students from 14 different elementary schools. The new 9th graders will bring the total number of students attending DRS to 330 this coming year.

College students will have a new yeshiva program available to them this at DRS. The post-high school learning program is, “an opportunity for them to learn and to be around a yeshiva environment, even if they’re going to secular college,” explained Rabbi Yisroel Kaminetsky. The college students will  learn and hang out with the high school students.

DRS will expand its science research program under the leadership of Dr. Robert Winston. In the program’s fledgling year, five sophomores won awards in statewide science competitions. DRS is adding its 13th Advanced Placement course, AP English in the 11th grade. Not one to miss the technology wave, DRS will be using two Twitter accounts, drsalumni and drshalb, to keep in touch with alumni and current students, respectively.

Rabbi Eliyahu Wolf is joining the faculty. He is the newly named Rabbinic Associate at Young Israel of Woodmere.

On the extra-curricular front, Motza’ei Shabbat Basketball Intramurals will begin their second season; a DRS fencing team will begin to compete this year.

n n n

Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway High School

It’s gearing up to be a busy year at HAFTR High School.

After Advanced Placement exams and the senior courses are done in the spring, seniors will become interns.

“They’ll be meaningfully engaged in a life preparatory experience,” said General Studies Principal Naomi Lippman. The school is planning to match internships with students’ preferences, from working in hospitals to corporations to local businesses.

HAFTR hosted 34 young people from Sderot for several weeks last spring; and students will once again be in touch with their Sderot counterparts thanks to a donation of video conferencing gear from Woodmere-based Quantalytics Inc.

“The video conferencing equipment will help to develop and sustain relationships with students who were here last year and [allow] newer students to be able to connect ... with their counterparts in Israel,” Lippman explained.

HAFTR alumni attending universities in New York will return to the school each week to teach a Friday morning shiur. “It’s very nice to get the alumni back and to show kids what role models our graduates are,” Lippman said.

For students who want more than the standard Regents curriculum but don’t wish to take Advanced Placement exams, the school plans to offer an honors level program in all AP subjects.

Rabbi Steven Moskowitz, the director of student activities, will begin the year on a high note, working with students to build and decorate a sukkah for each Ohel-Beis Ezra group home in the area. His students will also help make a wedding for a bride who grew up in foster care. They’ll bake for the wedding, purchase all the Judaica necessities the young couple will need, and even throw a Sheva Brachos celebration at the Carlos and Gabby’s restaurant in Brooklyn. Students raised the required funds before the summer by selling snack food and beverages in the school.

n n n

Hebrew Academy of Nassau County High School

HANC High School will offer female students a class in Talmud as an alternative to a class called Torah She’bal Peh (The Oral Law).

“We believe that this will allow those women who are so inclined to pursue and build upon the Gemara skills they have developed in our Middle School,” explained Principal Rabbi Moshe Stavsky.

Also being introduced this year, “Torah Umada Institute,” a series of lectures and workshops given by leaders in the pursuit of Torah and the sciences. The progamn will also include on-site visits to facilities at the cutting edge of research and higher learning. Students will then create projects based on their studies to present to the school community.

Two new AP courses, Chemistry and Astronomy, are being introduced, and HANC has been selected to participate in the prestigious Gildor Science competition sponsored by the Gruss foundation. The E2K Science and Math enrichment program is being expanded and Smart Boards have been installed in seven additional classrooms in time for the new school year.

n n n

North Shore Hebrew Academy High School

Enrollment is up to 400 boys and girls in the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School and there will be six daily minyanim. The Mesivta program is expanding to include son and daughter learning programs for parents, and the Bechina Yerushalmit program for accelerated students will begin in the ninth grade.

The secular studies program is expanding as well with the launch of research programs in math and engineering. Advanced Placement Physics will be added to an already long list of AP courses; archeology classes are being offered in conjunction with Israeli high schools.

Every classroom at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School will be equipped with a Smart Board. The school plans to begin setting up teleconference chavrusas (study partnerships) for high schoolers with yeshivas in Israel.

“Our goal is the get to the heart as well as the brain of all of our students,” said Headmaster Dr. Daniel J. Vitow. “We want them to love what they are learning both in Limudei Kodesh and secular studies so we can develop a balanced, rational, modern Orthodox young man or young woman, able to be frum and yet engage the modern world comfortably.”

n n n

Rambam Mesivta

Rambam Mesivta (and sister school Shalhevet) are on their own now, led once more by Rabbis Zev Friedman and Yotav Eliach.

Rabbi Friedman will give a shiur to eleventh graders; Rabbi Eliach will teach Hashkafa (Jewish philosophy) to eleventh graders in addition to the course he customarily leads on Zionism. Freshman will hear shiurim on Tefilah (prayer) and Parshat Hashavua (weekly Torah portion).

“There’s a need to build on skills so the kids can understand the meaning of the davening and the halachic details; the same thing applies to the Parshat Hashavua,” said Rabbi Friedman.

The school is installing Smart Boards, upgrading the laboratory and adding a computer course that will focus on hands-on media. Last year, instead of a school newspaper, the school produced a newscast with students as “roving reporters.”

A shiur for alumni will be offered twice a week instead of once; a shiur for parents will be offered as well. Conference call technology will be employed to allow students who live outside the local area to participate in shiurim offered at night.

“We’re looking forward to a very productive, successful year,” Rabbi Friedman said.

n n n

Shalhevet High School for Girls

After a question of whether Shalhevet High School for Girls would continue, the school will inaugurate its second class of girls in a new location at Temple Hillel. Parents helped close a nearly $150,000 budget gap through donations and cost-cutting measures to keep the school open minus its previous association with HAFTR.

“What’s really unique about Shalhevet is the amazing parent body,” explained the Rosh HaYeshiva, Rabbi Zev Friedman. “Over these past few weeks [they] have put in so much in terms of their own time and financial help... in so many different areas, it is inspiring. It sets a tone for the very positive and united commitment that the parents have, working as a team to build a Torah institution.”

25 girls from more than 15 elementary schools comprise the incoming freshman class.

“I think what unites them — the group of diverse girls from different communities — is wonderful middot, a sense of mission they have, realizing that school is more than just learning pages and curriculum but a sense of being a Bas Torah, and that the world is open to them, all professions, and they have a mission to go out and make a Kiddush Hashem, whatever they do, and they can pursue excellence in a warm non-competitive atmosphere,” said Rabbi Friedman.

A new Torah She’ bal Peh class will be given by Rabbi Friedman. In addition to learning practical Halacha the course will also focus on the 613 mitzvot using the Sefer HaChinuch and the Rambam as a springboard for analysis. Moms will be invited to join their daughters on Fridays for a shiur on contemporary halacha; Rabbi Yotav Eliach and Mrs. Mindy Schachar will teach weekly seminars on Zionism, and the school plans to expand its sports and chesed activities. Each student will receive a laptop. Shalhevet also plans to continue offering a course in Arabic that was popular in the school’s first year.

n n n

Yeshiva University

The first new building in 20 years on Yeshiva University's Wilf Campus in Washington Heights will officially open its doors on Sept. 13. The Glueck Center for Jewish Study, a 60,000 square foot, modern, glass and stone multi-use facility will be dedicated at a ceremony that day beginning at 9:30 am.

The Legacy Heritage Foundation is providing two grants to Yeshiva University. The first will enable nine students at Stern College for Women to take a new concentration in Jewish education within the Jewish Studies major. The second, The Legacy Heritage Training Fellowship, will fund five qualified recent graduates to teach at schools across North America while studying towards master's degrees at YU's Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.

The Sy Syms School of Business is launching the Center for Professional and Executive Education - it is intended to further expand the scope of a Syms education beyond undergraduate programming. The center will offer post-graduate education and professional development to meet the needs of business professionals, particularly in the Jewish community.

The Immigration Justice Clinic at YU's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law recently released the first public study of the home raid operations of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, and found that widespread constitutional violations. Based on the study, the New York Times branded the raids, which occurred in Nassau County, as "tactical failures as well as moral outrages." The clinic provides legal representation to indigent immigrants facing deportation and represents immigrant community-based organizations on litigation and advocacy projects.

n n n

Touro College

With the health care industry showing resistance to the current economic slump Touro's School of Health Sciences has seen a 30 percent jump in applications. Its major programs - Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Nursing - are all fully enrolled for the fall semester. In order to meet demand Touro has added weekend and evening classes to its undergraduate programs for the first time.

Veterans of military service in Iraq and Afghanistan will be eligible for scholarships valid in any of Touro's undergraduate programs; up to 25 will be awarded.

Lander College for Men in Queens will hold a Mathematics Olympiad designed to stimulate interest in the study of mathematics among yeshiva high school students. It is open to all full-time yeshiva high school students in the US and Canada, and will provide a first prize of $1,000. Lander's second annual Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition will begin on November 25th. The program has been designed to help foster innovative ideas and inventions from yeshiva high school students in the metro New York area. Five finalists will present their product or service to a panel of judges consisting of senior business leaders and young, successful Jewish entrepreneurs. Three winners will be named and awarded prizes of $1,500 for 1st place, $1,000 for 2nd place, and $500 for 3rd place.

n n n

Queens College

Queens College's reputation as a commuter school is at risk. The university's first residence hall has opened, named the Summit, with 506 beds. Each suite is equipped with a kitchenette, a common living area and a bath. The recently renovated science building Remsen Hall will also re-open this semester with new state-of the laboratory facilities.

Queens College welcomed a new provost, Dr. James Stellar, a neuro-psychologist, who is the former dean of Northeastern University's College of Arts and Sciences. When he taught at Harvard he received the Phi Beta Kappa Outstanding Harvard Teacher of the Year Award.

This summer QC students conducted research on faculty-lead projects in Israel, Turkey, Ethiopia and Greenland.

The Queens College Center for Jewish Studies plans a number of events beginning on Wednesday, October 14, with a lecture by Professor Marion Kaplan titled "Dominican Haven: Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust." A succeeding lecture on October 28th, to be given by Professor Daniel Tzadik, will focus on the relationship between Jews and Iran, in "Iran Shi'ah Islam and the Jews."

Mesivta Ateres Yaakov will continue the learning support program it introduced last year; several young rabbeim are available to help students learn.

“In addition to the obvious educational benefits, these talmidei chachomim acted as superb role models for our impressionable young men,” explained the Menahel, Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe.

Four AP courses will be offered for the seniors among a variety of other courses and two of the Mesivta’s instructors will be department coordinators in the areas of Language Arts and Mathematics. The Mesivta will resume its weekly publication of student-written Divrei Torah that is distributed in Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn. Chesed projects with Ohel-Beis Ezra and Chayeinu will resume ,as will sports and academic programs, including softball, volleyball, mock trial and Torah Bowl.

DRS is welcoming its largest ever freshman class — 90 students from 14 different elementary schools. The new 9th graders will bring the total number of students attending DRS to 330 this coming year.

College students will have a new yeshiva program available to them this at DRS. The post-high school learning program is, “an opportunity for them to learn and to be around a yeshiva environment, even if they’re going to secular college,” explained Rabbi Yisroel Kaminetsky. The college students will  learn and hang out with the high school students.

DRS will expand its science research program under the leadership of Dr. Robert Winston. In the program’s fledgling year, five sophomores won awards in statewide science competitions. DRS is adding its 13th Advanced Placement course, AP English in the 11th grade. Not one to miss the technology wave, DRS will be using two Twitter accounts, drsalumni and drshalb, to keep in touch with alumni and current students, respectively.

Rabbi Eliyahu Wolf is joining the faculty. He is the newly named Rabbinic Associate at Young Israel of Woodmere.

On the extra-curricular front, Motza’ei Shabbat Basketball Intramurals will begin their second season; a DRS fencing team will begin to compete this year.

It’s gearing up to be a busy year at HAFTR High School.

After Advanced Placement exams and the senior courses are done in the spring, seniors will become interns.

“They’ll be meaningfully engaged in a life preparatory experience,” said General Studies Principal Naomi Lippman. The school is planning to match internships with students’ preferences, from working in hospitals to corporations to local businesses.

HAFTR hosted 34 young people from Sderot for several weeks last spring; and students will once again be in touch with their Sderot counterparts thanks to a donation of video conferencing gear from Woodmere-based Quantalytics Inc.

“The video conferencing equipment will help to develop and sustain relationships with students who were here last year and [allow] newer students to be able to connect ... with their counterparts in Israel,” Lippman explained.

HAFTR alumni attending universities in New York will return to the school each week to teach a Friday morning shiur. “It’s very nice to get the alumni back and to show kids what role models our graduates are,” Lippman said.

For students who want more than the standard Regents curriculum but don’t wish to take Advanced Placement exams, the school plans to offer an honors level program in all AP subjects.

Rabbi Steven Moskowitz, the director of student activities, will begin the year on a high note, working with students to build and decorate a sukkah for each Ohel-Beis Ezra group home in the area. His students will also help make a wedding for a bride who grew up in foster care. They’ll bake for the wedding, purchase all the Judaica necessities the young couple will need, and even throw a Sheva Brachos celebration at the Carlos and Gabby’s restaurant in Brooklyn. Students raised the required funds before the summer by selling snack food and beverages in the school.

HANC High School will offer female students a class in Talmud as an alternative to a class called Torah She’bal Peh (The Oral Law).

“We believe that this will allow those women who are so inclined to pursue and build upon the Gemara skills they have developed in our Middle School,” explained Principal Rabbi Moshe Stavsky.

Also being introduced this year, “Torah Umada Institute,” a series of lectures and workshops given by leaders in the pursuit of Torah and the sciences. The program will also include on-site visits to facilities at the cutting edge of research and higher learning. Students will then create projects based on their studies to present to the school community.

Two new AP courses, Chemistry and Astronomy, are being introduced, and HANC

has been selected to participate in the prestigious Gildor Science competition sponsored by the Gruss foundation. The E2K Science and Math enrichment program is being expanded and Smart Boards have been installed in seven additional classrooms in time for the new school year.

Enrollment is up to 400 boys and girls in the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School and there will be six daily minyanim. The Mesivta program is expanding to include son and daughter learning programs for parents, and the Bechina Yerushalmit program for accelerated students will begin in the ninth grade.

The secular studies program is expanding as well with the launch of research programs in math and engineering. Advanced Placement Physics will be added to an already long list of AP courses; archeology classes are being offered in conjunction with Israeli high schools.

Every classroom at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School will be equipped with a Smart Board. The school plans to begin setting up teleconference chavrusas (study partnerships) for high schoolers with yeshivas in Israel.

“Our goal is the get to the heart as well as the brain of all of our students,” said Headmaster Dr. Daniel J. Vitow. “We want them to love what they are learning both in Limudei Kodesh and secular studies so we can develop a balanced, rational, modern Orthodox young man or young woman, able to be frum and yet engage the modern world comfortably.”

Rambam Mesivta (and sister school Shalhevet) are on their own now, led once more by Rabbis Zev Friedman and Yotav Eliach.

Rabbi Friedman will give a shiur to eleventh graders; Rabbi Eliach will teach Hashkafa (Jewish philosophy) to eleventh graders in addition to the course he customarily leads on Zionism. Freshman will hear shiurim on Tefilah (prayer) and Parshat Hashavua (weekly Torah portion).

“There’s a need to build on skills so the kids can understand the meaning of the davening and the halachic details; the same thing applies to the Parshat Hashavua,” said Rabbi Friedman.

The school is installing Smart Boards, upgrading the laboratory and adding a computer course that will focus on hands-on media. Last year, instead of a school newspaper, the school produced a newscast with students as “roving reporters.”

A shiur for alumni will be offered twice a week instead of once; a shiur for parents will be offered as well. Conference call technology will be employed to allow students who live outside the local area to participate in shiurim offered at night.

“We’re looking forward to a very productive, successful year,” Rabbi Friedman said.

After a question of whether Shalhevet High School for Girls would continue, the school will inaugurate its second class of girls in a new location at Temple Hillel. Parents helped close a nearly $150,000 budget gap through donations and cost-cutting measures to keep the school open minus its previous association with HAFTR.

"What’s really unique about Shalhevet is the amazing parent body,” explained the Rosh HaYeshiva, Rabbi Zev Friedman. “Over these past few weeks [they] have put in so much in terms of their own time and financial help... in so many different areas, it is inspiring. It sets a tone for the very positive and united commitment that the parents have, working as a team to build a Torah institution.”

25 girls from more than 15 elementary schools comprise the incoming freshman class.

“I think what unites them — the group of diverse girls from different communities — is wonderful middot, a sense of mission they have, realizing that school is more than just learning pages and curriculum but a sense of being a Bas Torah, and that the world is open to them, all professions, and they have a mission to go out and make a Kiddush Hashem, whatever they do, and they can pursue excellence in a warm non-competitive atmosphere,” said Rabbi Friedman.

A new Torah She’ bal Peh class will be given by Rabbi Friedman. In addition to learning practical Halacha the course will also focus on the 613 mitzvot using the Sefer HaChinuch and the Rambam as a springboard for analysis. Moms will be invited to join their daughters on Fridays for a shiur on contemporary halacha; Rabbi Yotav Eliach and Mrs. Mindy Schachar will teach weekly seminars on Zionism, and the school plans to expand its sports and chesed activities. Each student will receive a laptop. Shalhevet also plans to continue offering a course in Arabic that was popular in the school’s first year.

The first new building in 20 years on Yeshiva University's Wilf Campus in Washington Heights will officially open its doors on Sept. 13. The Glueck Center for Jewish Study, a 60,000 square foot, modern, glass and stone multi-use facility will be dedicated at a ceremony that day beginning at 9:30 am.

The Legacy Heritage Foundation is providing two grants to Yeshiva University. The first will enable nine students at Stern College for Women to take a new concentration in Jewish education within the Jewish Studies major. The second, The Legacy Heritage Training Fellowship, will fund five qualified recent graduates to teach at schools across North America while studying towards master's degrees at YU's Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.

The Sy Syms School of Business is launching the Center for Professional and Executive Education - it is intended to further expand the scope of a Syms education beyond undergraduate programming. The center will offer post-graduate education and professional development to meet the needs of business professionals, particularly in the Jewish community.

The Immigration Justice Clinic at YU's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law recently released the first public study of the home raid operations of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, and found that widespread constitutional violations. Based on the study, the New York Times branded the raids, which occurred in Nassau County, as "tactical failures as well as moral outrages." The clinic provides legal representation to indigent immigrants facing deportation and represents immigrant community-based organizations on litigation and advocacy projects.

With the health care industry showing resistance to the current economic slump Touro's School of Health Sciences has seen a 30 percent jump in applications. Its major programs - Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Nursing - are all fully enrolled for the fall semester. In order to meet demand Touro has added weekend and evening classes to its undergraduate programs for the first time.

Veterans of military service in Iraq and Afghanistan will be eligible for scholarships valid in any of Touro's undergraduate programs; up to 25 will be awarded.

Lander College for Men in Queens will hold a Mathematics Olympiad designed to stimulate interest in the study of mathematics among yeshiva high school students. It is open to all full-time yeshiva high school students in the US and Canada, and will provide a first prize of $1,000. Lander's second annual Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition will begin on November 25th. The program has been designed to help foster innovative ideas and inventions from yeshiva high school students in the metro New York area. Five finalists will present their product or service to a panel of judges consisting of senior business leaders and young, successful Jewish entrepreneurs. Three winners will be named and awarded prizes of $1,500 for 1st place, $1,000 for 2nd place, and $500 for 3rd place.

Queens College's reputation as a commuter school is at risk. university's first residence hall has opened, named the Summit, with 506 beds. Each suite is equipped with a kitchenette, a common living area and a bath. The recently renovated science building Remsen Hall will also re-open this semester with new state-of the laboratory facilities.

Queens College welcomed a new provost, Dr. James Stellar, a neuro-psychologist, who is the former dean of Northeastern University's College of Arts and Sciences. When he taught at Harvard he received the Phi Beta Kappa Outstanding Harvard Teacher of the Year Award.

This summer QC students conducted research on faculty-lead projects in Israel, Turkey, Ethiopia and Greenland.

The Queens College Center for Jewish Studies plans a number of events beginning on Wednesday, October 14, with a lecture by Professor Marion Kaplan titled "Dominican Haven: Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust." A succeeding lecture on October 28th, to be given by Professor Daniel Tzadik, will focus on the relationship between Jews and Iran, in "Iran Shi'ah Islam and the Jews."